Verdict That Demands Action

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" Matthew 25:40

I view the time between 4:00 AM and 4:59 AM as the most ungodly hour. Nothing good happens during this hour. If you are up until 3:59 AM . . . go to bed! Nothing good can come of still being awake. If you wake up at some point during this ungodly hour . . . hit snooze! Seriously. I think that my time of opening a coffee shop at 4:45 AM has lead me to this belief - it may be wrong, but I am sticking to it.

Monday was one of those days that I was forced to be awake during this the most ungodly of hours. Amy and I went to Seattle, WA last week for our first married Christmas. It was one year ago that we got engage in this beautiful city, so this trip was our Christmas gift to each other. We had an incredible time and took advantage of as much of this great city as possible in our short time there. We had an early flight out on Monday that forced me to break my 4 o'clock rule.

As we flew out I had an interesting thought. How did I impact that city in my few days there? Was it different then when I came? Economically speaking, I am sure that it was beneficial to have another couple come to the city, eat the food, shop and do all the typical vacation activities, but I do not pretend to think that our modest trip and few activities made any impact on the economic state of the city. It'd be nice to think that we single handedly fixed the economic problems, but we simply did not.

There was something that I could not get out of my head though. The night before we left I saw a young guy in his twenties holding a sign that read, "Survival isn't a privilege, it's a right. Please help me out." I don't know why he stood out to me. I had passed by so many homeless all weekend and none of them phased me the way that this guy did. Then I realized that maybe that was the problem. Why was I able to walk by so many poor and needy, so many that are hurting, and not be compelled to do something?

There are so many logical reasons why we pass by these people without a second thought. After all, they must have done something in order to end up like this and if we give them money they will surely just use it to feed addictions . . . or so we rationalize.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that dropping my loose change in their bucket would have really helped much. But what about a conversation? What about a meal? I'll tell you what I would like to do, I'd like to respond like Peter did in Acts 3 and say, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, be healed." That is what I'd like to do in these situations.

The truth is that I do not know how we should act. I do know this, as we do to the least of these; we do to the Lord - that is a weighty idea that does demands action.

Furnace Prayer Meetings

The Furnace prayer leaders have started blogging about each prayer meeting. I love being able to read about what God is doing in the prayer meetings.

Here is one entry from Josiah Carlson who leads the Monday night prayer meeting:


Coming into this prayer meeting, for some reason or another, it seemed liked our hearts were hard as a whole. Maybe it was from sin, or lack of pursuit, but regardless by the end of the night there was true, authentic intimacy. It was repenting during the first hour that softened our hearts and drew us to the Lord. The whole second hour was straight up worship! It was worship deep with our spirits and with truth. We approached the Lord with the Fear of the Lord. We stepped into humbleness which was the key to the door of intimacy. Tonight there was a real longing to meet with God. We asked for Him tonight, and we actively sought Him. It wasn't something that I lead the prayer meeting into... it was something that God did. My leadership was irrelevant because the furnace came to meet with him and was able to follow Him first.
Tonight was truly intimate, and I pray that the furnace's hearts would be resolute to follow a relentless God. We have so much to jump into... and I have faith that we will, and not just in the future, but now, and with this crew!

Much love,
Josiah

check out more entries like this at furnaceprayerblog.blogspot.com

Night of Desperation - Pueblo

Last Saturday the Furnace took a team to Pueblo, Colorado for a Night of Desperation. It was a great night full of prayer, worship, and connecting. Brandan Bustamonte came down to lead worship for the event. Brandan is a worship leader that is incredibly talented and anointed.

Pastor Dominic Suazo hosted the event at the Pueblo Prayer and Worship Center. We had a packed house as we prayed for a move of God in Pueblo. There is a groundswell of prayer that is beginning in this area and we were excited to go down to be a part of it.

Thanks to everyone that came out. We will continue to pray for Pueblo!